Pakistani community in US warns against government's relief fund

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 27 : Pakistani-American community leaders warned against the government's appeal to donate to the Prime Minister's fund and said that this is not the time for party politics.
"No, this is no time for party politics," Johnny Bashir said, who heads the Washington, Virginia chapter of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). He recalled the 2005 earthquake incident where the community in the greater Washington area sent two containers of goods to Pakistan. "And we are ready to do so again."
The leaders, however, urged the community to rise above party politics and focus on helping the flood victims, Dawn reported.
This comes after the Pakistan government urged the Pakistani-American community to help the rain and flood victims across the country, while community leaders asked people to "rise above party politics" during this natural calamity.
Dr Khalid Abdullah, who heads the Washington chapter of an international organisation called Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), suggested focusing on immediate relief and on "increasing our capacity to deal with such disasters".
"Monsoons are not new, nor are the floods. Such things have a regular pattern. By now, we should have been ready to absorb excess water and even use it to our benefit," he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Talha Siddiqui, who is associated with the largest group of Pakistani physicians called APPNA, advised sending "money, tents and medicines". He also alerted the authorities in Pakistan to prepare for the post-flood infectious diseases "that often do more damage than the flood itself".
Pakistan is grappling with its worst natural disaster in over a decade. The floods affected the lives of millions of people.
At least 937 people killed and 1,343 people injured since 14 June, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
116 districts affected, including 66 districts are officially declared 'calamity hit'. Meanwhile, rainfall nationwide is 2.87 times higher than the national 30-year average, with some provinces receiving more than five times as much rainfall as their 30-year average.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reports some 33 million people in Pakistan are being affected. As of 25 August, Pakistan has experienced 375.4 mm of rainfall - 2.87 times higher than the national 30-year average of 130.8 mm. These rains have primarily fallen on Balochistan, Sindh and parts of Punjab, with Balochistan receiving five times its average 30-year rainfall and Sindh receiving 5.7 times its 30-year average, the statement reads.
On 26 August, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) issued a warning that very high to exceptionally high-level flooding is expected in River Kabul at Nowshera in KP province, as well as in tributaries of the Kabul and Indus rivers until 28 August.